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Henrietta Lacks was a poor Southern tobacco farmer. Without her knowledge, scientists took her cells and her cells are still alive today, even though she has been dead for more than sixty years. Henrietta’s cells were used to develop the polio vaccine, for studies in cancer and for other scientific breakthroughs. The story of the Lacks family is inextricably linked to the history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics and legal battles.